The following post was written by Jean-Christophe Cimetiere, Director, Partner Developer Marketing at Microsoft, to update the Unity community about the latest resources and news for Windows Phone and Windows Stores

This past June, we announced collaboration with Unity, through which Unity developers can publish their apps on Windows platforms. In porting your apps to Windows and Windows Phone, you can expand your market reach to millions of users with minimal effort.

Unity Developer Momentum on Windows

I’m thrilled to see the momentum you’ve demonstrated in launching your apps on Windows platforms. Since the release of Unity 4.2 we’ve seen exponential growth of apps made with Unity for Windows Store and Windows Phone; you have submitted more than one thousand Unity apps—and counting.

“This milestone is a powerful reminder of the incredible flexibility of the Unity technology and developer community,” said David Helgason, CEO, Unity Technologies. “The Windows Store apps add-on for Unity was just released in July and there are already over 1000 games powered by Unity available on Windows Phone 8 and Windows Store! That’s a mind-blowing achievement realized in less than four months.”

Thanks to your feedback, Unity continues to provide improved support for Windows platforms in the latest version, Unity 4.3, which you can download here.

The Porting labs: what happened…

As you know, Unity is designed to operate cross-platform and ensures a smooth recompiling experience; still, each platform is unique. So, in order to set you up for success in porting existing apps to Windows platforms, we gathered a crew of technical experts, and headed to the Unite 2013 event in Vancouver, British Columbia, where we worked hands-on with developers for three days in our Porting Lab.

Learning from experience: Porting Lab at Unite 2013

Our goal in hosting the Porting Lab was simple: to help you quickly port as many apps / games as possible and learn what we could do to make the process even easier.

And what we learned

For most, recompiling code was easy, but we also learned about the various aspects of porting that require extra care and attention. If you’ve gone beyond using standard Unity features, you may find extra work in incorporating your special plug-ins or APIs. For example, if you want to integrate In-App Purchase, use the Microsoft Ad Control, or manage the ‘back’ button, you’ll need to customize.

By the end of the lab, we had helped developers port about 80 apps from iOS, Android, and other platforms to Windows Phone or Windows Store.

New technical resources

To further empower you, we’ve developed technical guides that explain how to bring Unity apps to Windows Store and Windows Phone, including specifics of the platforms, what you need to get started, how to address platform-specific edge cases, and how to address roadblocks you may encounter as you build on Windows. The content will continue to evolve as we get more feedback from you.

Also, we’re expanding the gallery of Windows Phone and Windows apps made with Unity. Remember, your app could be featured here, just let me know @jccim when you publish.

Get Started: Join a porting lab or check the porting guides

Our porting lab was so successful that we are now working with Unity to host similar events in additional cities around the world.

“It’s been a pleasure to work with Microsoft in their efforts to help developers get their games up and running for Windows Store and Windows Phone 8,” said Carl Callewaert, Unity Evangelist, Unity Technologies. “The live porting labs have been a huge success, so much so that merely days after meeting Tic Toc Games at a recent porting event, I was playing their game on my Windows Phone 8. The new online porting guides will put these excellent resources in the hands of those unable to attend live events.”

Watch this video to hear what developers had to say about their porting experiences:

Who won $100,000 in cash and prizes?

The response to the contest for the best Unity-authored content for Windows Store and Windows Phone was overwhelming. On November 14, we announced the 15 talented winners.Take a look at the great projects.

Last but not the least; I am going to leave you with advice from developers we interviewed during the Unite 2013 event. Watch this to hear what they have to say about becoming a game developer.

hmmm 1000 APP’s what is this…
How is the Quality of the APP’s ? AAA Titel or just fun Games?
Interesting is the Revenue !!!! For Us !!!
Like on Android compared to iOS… @ moment my customers don’t even care about Android ;-)
Because the sales of the App & Game are 10% on Android and 90% on iOS…
How many uses Windows and is it worth to pay the License and do all that Porting stuff & then sell like nothing ?
I’m curious to see Sales Numbers !
@ moment it is not interesting for us like Linux & Flash in Unity3d and i see that my Critics about Flash in Unity are still true…
also the Unity Forums are filled with Questions… but nobody answers… > Unity Support